News from the Congressional Papers Roundtable Office of the House Clerk The House Legislative Resource Center (LRC) sends the following news: The web site http://bioguide.congress.gov is now available. It provides online access to biographies of all members of Congress since 1774, as well as updated versions of the House and Senate guides to research collections and bibliographies of Senators. Favorable comments have been received regarding the site. Thanks are given to those of you who have sent updated information on the congressional collections in your repositories. The LRC and the Senate Historical Office update the web site as information is received. The LRC is currently adding bibliographic citations for House members. Researchers who contact the office by telephone and e-mail are enthusiastic about having current information so readily available. The new 106th Congress exhibits the lowest turnover in House membership in ten years. Only forty-nine members elected to the 105th Congress are not members of the 106th. During the last Congress four members died, two were appointed to other office, three resigned, twenty-one did not seek reelection, and twelve ran for other office, including three elected to the Senate. One member was defeated in the primary, six in the general election. The LRC provided advice to 30 of the offices that were closing. Nineteen departing members donated their papers to repositories upon leaving the House. Renewed House Historian? Page Putnam Miller, director of the National Coordinating Committee for the Promotion of History, reported the following in her 28 Jan. 1999 NCC Washington Update (which appeared on the Archives & Archivists listserv): On 6 Jan. 1999, the House of Representatives re-codified and passed a revised version of its standing rules. The revision, which involved reducing the standing rules from 52 to 28, retained the provision for the Office of the Historian. In 1994 when Republicans gained control of the House, one of Speaker Newt Gingrich's (R-GA) first acts was to dismiss the House Historian, who had been selected by a bipartisan search committee and had served ably for many years. For most of the past 4 years, the position has remained vacant. The recently adopted Rule 2, which deals with the duties of officers and members, states under Item 7 that "there is established an Office of the Historian of the House of Representatives." This is an encouraging development and may open the way for the House once again to have a historian. House Claims Furniture of Former Speakers The House is claiming furniture taken by former Speakers when they left office. In many cases, the furniture has been displayed in public exhibits commemorating the lives and careers of these men. This action has been in conjunction with a law affecting publicly-funded offices of living former Speakers. Approximately 40 pieces of furniture, primarily tables and chairs, from former Speaker Tom Foley (D-WA) are located at the Foley Institute of Washington State University. They are on a permanent loan from the House. During the summer of 1998, House Clerk Robin Carle contacted the Foley Institute about reclaiming these items, based on the law. The furniture had gone to the institute in 1994 when Foley was still Speaker, and because of this, the institute is seeking clarification on whether the law applies. Texas Christian University has also been contacted about furniture associated with former Speaker Jim Wright (D-TX). This includes chairs, tables, a lamp, a sofa, a bookcase, draperies, and other pieces, and all have been displayed in the Special Collections area of the Burnett Library since 1989. Representatives from the House have repeatedly checked on the items in the intervening years. Last summer, the Clerk's Office contacted Wright, not the university, about the return of these items, and the former Speaker indicated that he will comply with the request. From 1986-1996, the Bapst Library at Boston College (BC) displayed furnishings from the Speaker's office of Tip O'Neill (D-MA), and this was a popular tourist attraction. Exhibited were a grandfather clock, two chandeliers, a sofa, a love seat, chairs, tables, lamps, and a porcelain horse presented to the Speaker by the premier of China. These items were on loan from the Architect of the Capitol and the Clerk's Office. As a separate loan from the Smithsonian, BC had Pres. Grover Cleveland's desk, which O'Neill had also used in his Washington office. In 1996 the university decided to close this display and install at the Thomas P. O'Neill, Jr., Library a permanent exhibit, with the Smithsonian desk as the centerpiece. Proposals were made to move or purchase the furniture on loan from the House, but the pieces were returned to Washington when the Clerk's Office would not agree to these changes. Included was the rostrum chair, which BC said O'Neill's colleagues had given him as a retirement present. The Clerk's Office was unable to substantiate this. The Clerk's Office has contacted the University of Texas's Center for American History, which oversees the Sam Rayburn Library and Museum. Among the items sought to be returned are a Greek urn and a marble rostrum. The view of the center is that the Rayburn Library and Museum and its contents are property of the state of Texas. Boston University (BU) possesses a desk, chairs, a sofa, flags, and other items from John McCormack, and it has also been approached by the House. These items are no longer formally displayed, as they had been during McCormack's lifetime, but they are prominently identified as having belonged to the former Speaker. BU had not complied with the House clerk's request because it believes itself to be the owner of the items through an agreement with McCormack. The 18 Feb. 1999 issue of Roll Call stated that the staff of new Speaker Dennis Hastert has been reviewing the situation and that nothing definite has been decided yet. It also reported that "sources familiar with the deliberations said House officials are sensitive to the notion that whatever decisions they reach will likely serve as precedent for the disposition of the legacies of all past and future Speakers." New House Clerk Jeffrey Trandahl, in his former role as deputy clerk, had performed an investigation into the disposition of the furniture. Internet Resources The Library of Congress American Memory Project is bringing online important congressional records and publications. "A Century of Lawmaking for a New Nation" is a web site (http://lcweb2.loc.gov/ammem/amlaw/lawhome.html) designed to make these records more accessible to students, scholars, and interested citizens, and it will bring together the records and acts of Congress from the Journals of the Continental Congress through The Congressional Globe, which ceased publication in 1873. Documents dated 1774-1805 are currently available. Additional materials will be added to the site every few months. The Congressional Record from 1989 to present is also available at http://thomas.loc.gov/home/thomas2.html. Congressional Papers Roundtable Newsletter, February 1999. Reprinted with permission. Dirksen Center Makes Congressional Research Awards Each year, The Dirksen Congressional Center awards research grants to scholars in an effort to fund thoughtful, original study into congressional leadership and Congress. In cooperation with the Caterpillar Foundation, The Center awarded over $35,000 in 1999 to political scientists, historians, and journalists. This year's awardees include:
Carl Albert Center Offers Grants to Visiting Scholars The Carl Albert Congressional Research and Studies Center at the University of Oklahoma seeks applicants for its Visiting Scholars Program, which provides financial assistance to researchers working at the Center's archives. Awards of $500-$1000 are normally granted as reimbursement for travel and lodging. The Center's holdings include the papers of many former members of Congress, such as Speaker Carl Albert, Robert S. Kerr, and Fred Harris of Oklahoma, Helen Gahagan Douglas and Jeffery Cohelan of California, and Neil Gallagher of New Jersey. Besides the history of Congress, congressional leadership, national and Oklahoma politics, and election campaigns, the collections also document government policy affecting agriculture, Native Americans, energy, foreign affairs, the environment, and the economy. Topics that can be studied include the Great Depression, flood control, soil conservation, and tribal affairs. At least one collection provides insight on women in American politics. Most materials date from the 1920s to the 1970s, although there is one nineteenth century collection. The Center's collections are described on the World Wide Web at http://www.ou.edu/special/albertctr/archives/ and in the publication titled A Guide to the Carl Albert Center Congressional Archives (Norman, OK: The Carl Albert Center, 1995) by Judy Day et al., available at many U.S. academic libraries. Additional information can be obtained from the Center. The Visiting Scholars Program is open to any applicant. Emphasis is given to those pursuing post-doctoral research in history, political science, and other fields. Graduate students involved in research for publication, thesis, or dissertation are encouraged to apply. Interested undergraduates and lay researchers are also invited to apply. The Center evaluates each research proposal based upon its merits, and funding for a variety of topics is expected No standardized form is needed for application. Instead, a series of documents should be sent to the Center, including: (1) a description of the research proposal in fewer than 1000 words; (2) a personal vita; (3) an explanation of how the Center's resources will assist the researcher; (4) a budget proposal; and (5) a letter of reference from an established scholar in the discipline attesting to the significance of the research. Applications are accepted at any time. For more information, please contact Archivist, Carl Albert Center, 630 Parrington Oval, Room 101, University of Oklahoma, Norman, OK 73019. Telephone: (405) 325-5401. FAX: (405) 325-6419. E-mail: kosmerick@ou.edu. Ray C. Bliss Institute of Applied Politics April 12-13, 2000 Columbus, Ohio By April 2000, six states will have had at least one post-term limits legislative session. Several other states will be feeling the effects of imminent term limits. The Ray C. Bliss Institute of Applied Politics is hosting a conference which will focus on the observable/measurable effects of term limits on state legislatures across the country. The conference will occur in Columbus, Ohio, April 12-13, 2000. A goal of this conference will be to move beyond scholarly and practitioner speculation to observable effects. Another goal will be to move beyond simple case studies to a comparison of effects in various states. This call is open to all who wish to submit work that collects observable data on more than one state and provides a scholarly analysis of those observations. A limited number of excellent proposals will be accepted for the conference. Accepted authors will receive transportation and lodging for the conference and a small honorarium. The best papers may be accepted into an edited collection to be produced by the Bliss Institute following the conference. Please submit proposals by October 15, 1999 to: Dr. Rick Farmer, Ray C. Bliss Institute of Applied Politics, University of Akron, Akron, OH 44325-1915. Telephone: 330-972-7983. E-mail: rfarmer@uakron.edu RCLS Invites Participation in Organized Sessions at the Year 2000 IPSA World Congress in Quebec City The Research Committee of Legislative Specialists of the International Political Science Association is participating in organizing a total of four interesting sessions of the forthcoming Eighteenth World Congress of the International Political Science Association, which will be held in Quebec City, Canada from August 1 to 6, 2000. You are invited to indicate your interest in presenting a paper or serving as a discussant at one of these IPSA World Congress sessions. This expression of interest should be received by the appropriate convener/organizer by December 1, 1999, with a response forthcoming early in the year 2000. One of the RCLS sessions will focus on "Parliaments and Democratization" and the second RCLS session will deal with "Parliamentary Structures and Processes in Industrial and Third World Democracies." To participate in either of these panels, please contact either Dr. Drago Zajc, RCLS Program Chair, Department of Political Science, Faculty of Social Sciences, University of Ljubljana, P.O. Box 47, 61109 Ljubljana, Slovenia; Tel. +386-61-168-1461; Fax +386-61-168-3421, 168-2329, or 168-5330; E-mail: drago.zajc@uni-lj.si OR Professor Lawrence D. Longley, Department of Government, Lawrence University, Appleton, WI, U.S.A.; Tel. +1-920-832-6673; Fax +1-920-832-6962; E-mail: PowerLDL@aol.com by December 1, 1999. If proposing a paper, please briefly specify its scope and methodology. A third session on "The Impact of Electoral Reform on Legislatures" is being organized by RCLS together with the Electoral Systems Research Committee. To participate in this session, please contact the organizer: Dr. Reuven Y. Hazan, Department of Political Science, the Hebrew University of Jerusalem, 91905 Jerusalem, Israel; Fax +972-2-588-1333; E-mail: mshazan@mscc.huji.ac.il by December 1, 1999. If proposing a paper, please briefly specify its scope and methodology. Finally, the RCLS is organizing a special fourth session devoted to "The Development of Legislative Studies as a Discipline." To participate in this session, please contact the organizer: Professor Lawrence D. Longley, Department of Government, Lawrence University, Appleton, WI, U.S.A.; Tel. +1-920-832-6673; Fax +1-920-832-6962; E-mail: PowerLDL@aol.com by December 1, 1999, briefly specifying the anticipated scope and methodology of your historical/developmental review of the discipline. In reviewing proposals for papers and participation in these RCLS-organized sessions, preference will be given to current RCLS members. You are invited to join this network of international scholars; details on how to join are given below. For information concerning other plans and sessions of the IPSA World Congress, contact directly the Secretariat of the International Political Science Association, Department of Politics, University College Dublin, Belfield, Dublin 4, Ireland; Tel +353-1-706-8182; Fax +353-1-706-1171; E-mail: ipsa@ucd.ie Parliamentary Conferences for the Years 1999-2001 The Research Committee of Legislative Specialists of the International Political Science Association has announced six international parliamentary conferences it is planning or sponsoring. June 2000 - "Czech Parliamentary Research in the First Democratic Decade," Prague, Czech Republic, sponsored by the Czech Institute of Sociology of the Academy of Sciences and the Parliamentary Documents Center of the University of North Carolina at Greensboro. Contact: David M. Olson, Dept. of Political Science, 237 Graham Building, University of North Carolina, Greensboro, NC 27412, U.S.A.; Tel. +1-910-334-5989 or 299-7272; Fax +1-910-334-4315 or 334-3009; E-mail: olsondm@iris.uncg.edu August 4-6, 2000 - "Fourth International Workshop of Parliamentary Scholars and Parliamentarians," Wroxton College, Oxfordshire, United Kingdom, sponsored jointly with the Centre for Legislative Studies of the University of Hull, United Kingdom. Contact: The Lord Norton of Louth, Dept. of Politics, The University of Hull, Hull, HU6 7RX, United Kingdom; Tel +44-1482-854-168 or 466-208; E-mail: p.norton@pol-as.hull.ac.uk December 2000 - International Conference on "Parliamentary Institution Building and Reform in the New Democracies," Cape Town, South Africa, sponsored jointly with the Centre for Comparative and International Studies of the University of Stellenbosch, South Africa. Contacts: Hennie Kotzé, University of Stellenbosch, Dept. of Political Science, Private Bag X1, 7602 Stellenbosch, South Africa; Tel. +27-21-808-2107; Fax +27-21-808-4336; E-mail: HJK@akad.cun.ac.zaOR Lia Nijzink, Political Information and Monitoring Service, IDASA, Cape Town Democracy Centre, Box 1739, Cape Town 8000, South Africa; Tel. +27-21-461-2559; Fax +27-21-462-5261; E-mail: lia@idasact.org.za Dates to be set in 2000-01 - International Conference on "Reforming Legislatures: Tensions Between Legislation and Oversight," Jerusalem, Israel, sponsored jointly with the Israel Democracy Institute, the Speaker of the Israeli Knesset, and the Dept. of Political Science of the Hebrew University of Jerusalem. Contact: Reuven Y. Hazan, Dept. of Political Science, The Hebrew University of Jerusalem, 91905 Jerusalem, Israel; Fax: +972-2-588-1333; E-mail: mshazan@mscc.huji.ac.il July 2001 - Budapest III International Conference on "Parliamentary Parties and Parliamentary Committees," Budapest, Hungary, sponsored jointly with the Center for Democracy Studies of the Budapest University of Economic Sciences. Contacts: Attila Ágh, Department of Political Science, Budapest University of Economic Sciences, Fovám tér 8, H-1093 Budapest, Hungary; Fax and Tel. +36-1-218-8049; E-mail: poltagh@pegasus.bke.huOR Lawrence D. Longley, Dept. of Government, Lawrence University, Appleton, WI, U.S.A.; Tel. +1-920-832-6673; Fax +1-920-832-6962; E-mail: PowerLDL@aol.com July 2001 - Ljubljana III International Conference on "Parliamentary-Executive Relations" [tentative title], Ljubljana and Portoroz, Slovenia, sponsored jointly with the University of Ljubljana Faculty of Social Sciences and the Political Science Association of Slovenia. Contacts: Drago Zajc, Dept. of Political Science, Faculty of Social Sciences, University of Ljubljana, P.O. Box 47, 61109 Ljubljana, Slovenia; Tel. +386-61-168-1461; Fax +386-61-168-3421, 168-2329, or 168-5330; E-mail: drago.zajc@uni-lj.siOR Lawrence D. Longley, Dept. of Government, Lawrence University, Appleton, WI, U.S.A.; Tel. +1-920-832-6673; Fax +1-920-832-6962; E-mail: PowerLDL@aol.com These international conferences are sponsored by a variety of scholarly organizations including the Research Committee of Legislative Specialists of the International Political Science Association. RCLS Membership The Research Committee of Legislative Specialists of the International Political Science Association is an organization of more than 150 scholars from 30 different countries of the world whose goal is to facilitate research into the comparative forms and effects of legislative institutions, processes, and politics. The resulting network of international scholars included individuals interested in national, cross-national, and sub-national aspects of legislatures. The RCLS, which in 2000 will celebrate its 29th year of scholarly activity, regularly organizes international gatherings of parliamentary and legislative specialists. Scholars and others interested in parliaments and legislatures are invited to join this international network and thus facilitate communication among researchers with common interests in the comparative forms and effects of legislative institutions, processes, and politics. Membership in RCLS currently runs through the year 2000 IPSA World Congress in Quebec City, Canada, and entitles international scholars to information concerning the professional activities of the Research Committee (including program plans for sessions at the year 2000 IPSA World Congress), receipt of the RCLS International Newsletter, and listing in the RCLS International Membership Directory and Research Register. To join RCLS, please send your name, professional address, telephone and fax numbers, E-mail address, and current legislative research interests, together with a check or international money order payable to "RCLS" for $40 U.S. or £30 sterling to either: Professor Lawrence D. Longley
OR Professor The Lord Norton of Louth
|